You'll be able to afford real marketing campaigns, lead gen services, etc., to where you can really get some ROI going.

.- Labor and materials are so high that you can only build in the luxury market, making affordable housing mathematically impossible.With that said, we are seeing some cracks in the market:- Buyer fatigue is real.- Some buyers are pushing back.  

Should I write him a letter or should I first check to see if I can afford the home?

This can be a major value point to a property owner/seller.Think of these people being in a problem and needing to sell their home but can not afford to fix everything nor has the time to list it.I suggest keeping this mindset and finding a way to talk to the owners of these properties.

"I have kids and a mortgage and I cant afford to take chances".  

The apartment had mixed reviews but it had more spaces with affordable rent, so we could save more money.

Here's the dilemma: there are PLENTY of other municipalities in KC metro to shop, and so far, my strategy is to avoid KCMO proper (it's always been tenant friendly since I started following a decade ago, but created a whole new dept in the wake of affordability crisis-- see this press release from earlier this year).

In a hot market where buyers bid war prices to above asking, so many buyers have been shot down by the banks telling them the property appraised at significantly less than asking, got told a cash amount they needed to make up the difference, and they couldn't afford that cash requirement. 

Meanwhile, next month he starts neglecting rent payments all over again.I always found that GOOD tenants love the flexibility that the MTM lease affords them if their personal or work situations changes.

It seems to me that tenants are no longer able to afford the high level of rents they used to pay.